What an absolute shocker we saw in the first leg of this game, with Crawley Town winning 3-0 at home, and putting one foot through the Wembley door for the final. Of course, you can never say never with the playoffs, Sheffield Wednesday pulled back from 4-0 down last year, but it is going to take a monumental effort from MK Dons to get back into this one.
MK Dons Form GuideThe first positive for MK Dons is that they are at home, and if they do manage to score an early goal, I can see the crowd getting right behind them, and that will help. But they're going to have to be a lot better than what we saw from them at Crawley in the first leg.
The game was moved back a day, due to a waterlogged pitch, but even that hiccup to preparations shouldn't be enough for MK Dons to play the way they did. 4th in the season, double figure points ahead of Crawley, MK Dons are the quality outfit in the League Two playoffs, but on Saturday, they need to actually show us that on the pitch.
Crawley Town Form GuideCrawley pulled a huge performance out of nowhere at the weekend, after falling into the playoffs with a poor run of form towards the end of the season. But they made it, and came to life at exactly the right moment. Spurred on by their home fans, scoring three past MK Dons, and holding a three goal advantage, this is all about defending and finishing the job.
My only concern for Crawley overall will be how they approach this game. I don't think they can sit back and completely invite pressure onto them, because that could end in disaster if they concede early.
Match PredictionI am backing MK Dons here, to bounce back from their dreadful performance in the first leg, and win the second leg. I'm not sure that will be enough for them to get through to the final, but I do think they can win on the night.
